Matthew Poole ’12

Double Duty

The Student Television Network (STN Channel 2) is a student club that produces a weekly 30-minute newscast that goes out live on the web (http://stn2.tv/media/live) and on the cable network here on campus. I joined STN in my sophomore year originally just to do another activity on campus, but then I fell for the whole world of broadcast and the engineering aspect of it.

In addition to the weekly newscast on Fridays, we produce an entertainment news show and we do a professional sports show. We also do other programs, like the student government debates every year and a basketball production. An important purpose of the club is to prepare our members for the real world. We try to provide them with hands-on experiences with real-world equipment.

As chief engineer at STN, I’m in charge of maintaining all the technology, whether that means fixing equipment or planning for future upgrades. We are currently planning our high definition upgrade. We got our first HD camera this year. The plan is to continue building on that for the next five or six years until we are completely HD.

As staff engineer for the University’s TV studio, I spend most of my time maintaining the technology for classroom learning. I also get to work on special productions that come into the studio from outside. The TV studio gets rented out to organizations looking to shoot everything from commercials to local cable television shows to depositions for court cases. These are great fun and great learning experiences.

Both jobs have prepared me for professional opportunities. I’ve gotten internships and jobs at network affiliates because of the experience and skills I’ve gained working here.

A lot goes on with STN and the TV studio, most of it time sensitive. I live on call. When something goes down, it has to be fixed immediately. I probably spend 20 to 30 hours a week on both jobs. Juggling that with a full load of classes is a challenge. Making it all work definitely requires skills in time management.